A Good Long Life
by DYquem
Summary: How can a random act of violence lead to Kagome's destiny?


This was written for the third contest on the Hiei/Kagome site: TheDeadliestsins at Proboards. Each author had to pick two different subjects and combine them. The two I picked were "The classic blanket fic" and "Moonlit night." It won first place.

**A Good Long Life**

"Where on earth am I? It seems to be a completely different world, though it's definitely dangerous."

Kagome was lost in a strange world she had never seen before wearing nothing but a nightgown and a blanket. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her bed at home. She recalled being startled awake to see a flash of dark eyes and to feel a sense of youkai before everything went black. When she awoke she was in a world with large plants and a red sky. The light was ample but seemed diffused across the sky. There was no obvious sun. After not sensing any youki since she left the sengoku jidai a little over three years ago, the very air filled her senses with it.

She stood and eyed the two youkai in front of her. They were both basically humanoid. One was dark green with dark eyes and some sort of horns protruding from either side of his head. The other was bluish grey with pale eyes. He reminded her of some sort of reptilian youkai. He carried a bow casually in one hand and she noticed a quiver of arrows nearby.

"Why aren't you screaming and trying to run away?" The green skinned one asked.

"Why aren't I tied up if you're worried I'll run away?"

'I'm not worried you'll run away. I am curious why you aren't trying?"

"Could I succeed?"

"Stupid human, of course not," said the grey one with a sneer.

"Well, there's your answer. Why should I spend energy doing that until I know where I am and how to get home again?" Kagome thought that was a reasonable question.

"You will never go home again. You are destined to attend a very expensive dinner party," the green one told her with a grin.

"Let me guess, I'm the guest of honor as the main course?" Despite the calm words coming out of her mouth, Kagome was more worried than she let on. She was lost in an unknown land and she seemed surrounded by youkai if her senses didn't betray her.

"Hn," laughed the grey one. "She must be smarter than the average human. Then again, that wouldn't take much."

"You won't eat me."

"You're right. We won't. We would far rather have the money we can get by selling you on the black market. Since Enki became king and rolled over for the Reikai, Raiku and I have a good business going in black market human dinners. You might say we're the youkai equivalent of home delivery. Ha. That's surprises you. I couldn't move about the Ningenkai without knowing a little about your culture, now could I?" The green one asked. He didn't volunteer his own name.

"What is Reikai? And what is the Ningenkai? And where the heck are we anyway?"

Both of the youkai stared at her. The usual response a newly kidnapped human made was to scream, shriek and run. Then they always went through a period of thinking they were dreaming. This one was not following the norm. They had assumed she at least knew of youkai since she had spoken to them calmly.

"You're in the Makai; our world," Raiku told her.

"What's the Makai?"

"Never mind," the green one said shortly. "She won't be alive long enough for it to matter."

Kagome was recovering from her shock and starting to get angry. "I don't think so. You're the ones who were stupid enough to kidnap a miko. Didn't you notice you invaded a shrine? Take me safely back home and I'll consider letting you live."

The green one roared with laughter. "Miko? That's ridiculous. You may be a miko but all that means is you care for the shrine and perform some rituals. Perhaps you know some history. Remember? I told you I had to learn some human ways. I know what a miko is in your day and age. Power? Ha. You are no terror to youkai. You are nothing but a little girl trying to talk her way out of her death."

"You'll see. Tell me your name. I'm sick and tired off thinking of you as 'the green one.' You mentioned Raiku's name. What's yours?"

"Kisho."

"Well, Kisho, why don't you reconsider selling me for the dinner table? I guarantee I won't hold you kidnapping me against you and Raiku. The only other alternative is I kill you. You don't want that, do you?" Kagome thought she sounded very reasonable. The two youkai thought she had gone mad with fear.

"You can't kill us, you stupid girl!" Kisho shouted. "We're many times stronger than you! Now start walking. I see no reason to carry you when you have two good legs." Then he eyed her. "For the moment, they are still good legs. Cause any more trouble and you may arrive slightly damaged."

"Surely I wouldn't be worth as much," she countered.

"I'll take the risk."

Kagome stared at Kisho and decided she had pushed him as far as he would go. She picked up the blanket and started walking. She didn't know why her heavy slippers were with her and didn't ask the youkai. Unfortunately, they seemed to have a lot of experience with kidnapping humans. Perhaps they had become familiar with their inability to walk barefoot without getting injured.

She eyed Raiku. He seemed a little more approachable and he was the one with the bow. "Raiku, that's a nice bow you have," Kagome said in friendly tone. "May I see it?"

Kisho eyed her and laughed but didn't say anything. He had learned it saved time and trouble in the long run to let the human make a few pitiful attempts to escape or hurt them. Once she realized they could easily over power her and outrun her, she would settle down and start accepting her fate. Even in the unlikely event she managed to hit one of them, a single arrow in the body would hardly cause much damage and it would stop any further fights.

Raiku looked at Kisho for permission and then handed Kagome the bow. It really did seem like a nice bow. It was made from a light polished wood. It had a firm draw but not one so strong that Kagome didn't think she could pull it.

"What type of arrow do you use?" She asked with a smile. Raiku laughed indulgently and handed her a couple of arrows. Kagome poked one through her nightgown to hold it in place; then she smiled, strung the second and jogged backwards away from the two youkai. They just watched her with twin smirks on their faces. She pulled back and aimed at Kisho.

"Last chance," Kagome said sternly. "I don't kill youkai unless I have to do it. I won't hold your past against you if you promise to stop kidnapping humans and if you show me the way home. Lots of people who attacked me are now my friends, but if you won't promise to stop killing humans I will purify you."

"Never," shouted Kisho, and his face started to turn dark. Kagome powered up the arrow and aimed at Kisho. Both youkai went pale.

"Mi… miko. She's a real miko," Raiku stammered.

"I told you that," Kagome said while staying focused on Kisho. Kisho was dark with anger and he started to move. Kagome expanded her aura and her power further into the arrow before letting it fly. The green youkai screamed and then vanished in a cloud of purification dust and wind. Raiku was so shocked Kagome had time to pull the second arrow from her nightgown, string it and aim it at Raiku.

"Put down the quiver, tell me how to get back home and you might live," she said sternly. The grey youkai seemed even greyer as he nodded firmly. It was clear he was a follower and not a leader.

"Yes, Miko-sama; thank you, miko-sama." He kept bobbing his head as he took off the quiver and set it down in front of him. "The Ningenkai is that direction," he pointed, "but we ran several hours carrying you so it isn't close. I… I don't know how long it would take a human to walk."

Kagome nodded she understood. "Go. If I hear news accounts of missing girls who sound like they could have been kidnapped by youkai, I'll track you down."

"Yes, Yes. I understand. I won't ever do it again. I promise." Raiku kept nodding his head as he backed away from Kagome and what was now her bow and arrow. If he got out of this with nothing more than a lost bow and quiver full of arrows, he would count himself lucky and thank whatever gods were watching over him for his fortuitous escape. When he was a fair distance away from her, he turned and vanished in the opposite direction to the Ningenkai. He kept thanking his lucky stars as he ran. Kisho had made the money sound easy and all they had to worry about was avoiding Hiei and the patrols. 'Modern day miko were all powerless. Ha.' He kept running.

In the meantime, Kagome was walking in the direction Raiku had indicated. She had no idea how long it would take her to travel the distance the youkai had traveled 'in several hours of running' but based on the speed with which he had vanished in the opposite direction, he was pretty fast. Kagome sighed. 'I still don't know where I am. This really doesn't look like anyplace on earth I've ever heard of or any picture I've seen.' It was cool and she had wrapped the blanket in a toga style around her. She used a supple vine to keep it tied into place. She felt more comfortable now she had the quiver on her back and the bow in her hand. The arrows were all in the quiver, but Kagome practiced pulling one and stringing it several times.

"Yes, it's like riding a bike. I haven't lost my touch," she told the plants happily. She walked for several hours that way and had met only a few creatures. They seemed weak and quickly ran away. She walked through forests of strange trees, and felt safer there. Even though a youkai could sneak up on her from the cover of the plants, she also knew she had a better chance of not being seen. There was a stream in the forest and after some cautious sniffing and a tiny sip, she drank from it. She was very thirsty and decided the risk the water was poisoned was less than the risk of becoming so weak from dehydration she couldn't protect herself.

-- -- 0 --- ---

"Another one," Hiei said with disgust as the vehicle they were riding sounded the alarm to indicate it detected a human. "Why must they continue to get lost? How did it get so far from the border of the Ningenkai anyway?" The sky was dark, but a full moon shone in the sky. To most youkai eyes, they could see as clearly as if it was full daylight. The group was on its way back to Mukuro's castle and the last thing any of them wanted was to deal with a misplaced human. Nevertheless Hiei pointed the bug in the direction of the human and started to catch up to it. The other youkai suppressed sighs. If it was up to them they'd pretend they hadn't noticed the human aura and go home. Unfortunately, they knew that while Hiei would complain about, insult and deride the humans, he was scrupulous about picking them up, cleansing their mind of their experience in the Makai and getting them home again. The last time someone out with Hiei suggested they conveniently ignore a lost human at the end of a long patrol; Hiei had kept the entire patrol out for another three days. No one wanted to risk that happening again.

Shortly they came to the spot of the human. They all stared. There was definitely something different about this one. She was female, with long dark hair and bright blue eyes. Those eyes were unusual enough for the type of human they usually found along this section of the border. She seemed to be wearing a blanket of some sort tied with plant life, but the oddest thing about her was what she was doing. She was carrying a bow and arrow and aiming it at them. Except for Hiei, none of them had ever seen a human with a weapon before. He opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it.

"I won't hurt you. Leave me alone," she said with a frown on her face.

Hiei laughed. The very idea the stupid human thought she could hurt him was ridiculous. "No, you won't hurt any of us." He reached up to remove the ward from the Jagan. It opened and woke up. Hiei always liked this part. The humans invariably started screaming and then they either froze in terror or tried to run away. Their reactions were the best part of this otherwise boring job. It was easy for the Jagan to take control of their fragmented panicked brains.

Kagome concentrated on staring at Hiei without looking at the third eye in his forehead. She could tell it was trying to get into her brain. "Stop that," she shouted. Get out of my head." Then she suddenly looked at the jagan. "I've had quite enough of youkai messing around inside my head. Get out!"

Hiei was startled. 'Did she address that to the jagan?' Regardless, it was clear the jagan was obeying. It withdrew and made no further attempts to search her brain, but it didn't go back to a suspended animation. It was wide awake and taking in everything about the girl with what felt like extreme interest to Hiei. Hiei ordered the jagan to enter her mind again, and was stunned to feel a clear denial from the jagan. The jagan lived to enter and manipulate brains. It lived to search. Since its implantation, it had never required encouragement; much less had it ever refused such a command outright. Hiei had always had to prevent it from entering any mind it came across. Why now?

Hiei eyed the strange human and tried to think of what to say. "What is that thing you are wearing?"

"It's a blanket over my nightgown. Why? It's the latest thing where I come from." Kagome watched him. He didn't seem to find that amusing. "Great. That's just what I need, another youkai with no sense of humor," she told him as she gave him a sour look over the arrow. "Look, all I need is to be left alone and pointed in the direction of the Ningenkai. Apparently that is what you call the place I came from."

"Why did you bring a bow and arrows into the Makai? If you want to play tourist you should realize that bow will do nothing against most youkai," Hiei said. That made Kagome mad.

"I am not on vacation here. I did not choose my clothes or my location. I went to bed in my nightgown as usual in my own little bed in my family's house. Some youkai kidnapped me straight out of it and when I woke up I was in this horrible place. So don't go thinking this is MY idea of a good time."

"Then how did you get the bow and arrows?" This made no sense to Hiei. If she had been kidnapped from home in the Ningenkai and then carried to the Makai, it implied there was still a fair amount of black market trafficking in humans. He knew exactly what happened to the humans after that. While some youkai thought it amusing to have sex with their victims, the end result of the evening was always dinner. No youkai who went to that risk and trouble would have allowed a human to obtain a real weapon, much less to escape.

"I traded with a youkai for them." Kagome smirked.

Hiei felt revolted. He eyed her up and down. There was only one thing she could have traded for them, but why would the youkai have permitted her to escape afterwards? That bow and arrow couldn't kill a moderately powerful youkai. If a youkai had the intelligence to successfully plan and execute abductions from the Ningenkai, he would have been powerful enough to not be seriously damaged by a single arrow, and Hiei knew that no youkai would be stupid enough to give her a second chance. So why was she here?

"What did you trade?"

"His life." Kagome knew what the small youkai was thinking. "His leader let me have the bow and arrow to prove I couldn't escape. I gave him a chance and then killed him. So the other youkai very happily traded me the bow and quiver full of arrows and I allowed him to leave."

"No youkai would have been in fear of a tiny arrow like that in the hands of a human." One of the other youkai spoke up.

"Is that a fact?" Kagome eyed Hiei momentarily, then pointed the arrow at the other youkai and powered the arrow up with purification energy. Everyone gasped. "I beg to differ. Raiku was quite happy to trade me his bow and arrows for his life and leave me alone. You are going to do the same, aren't you?" Kagome said fiercely. The youkai didn't move or say a word. He was afraid of the arrow now, but also knew if he moved an inch, his fellows would sense the weakness and he would lose all credibility at Mukuro's castle.

"Hn. You're a miko; a real one, not just what humans call miko now. Your kidnappers must been truly stupid. How did they even get you to the Makai without being purified?" Hiei was shocked, but nothing showed on his face.

"They knocked me out and carried me in the blanket. They didn't realize I was a miko. As you can see, I was in bed at the time. I just need to know how to get home."

"Well, you don't click your heels three times and spout some ridiculous statement like 'there's no place like home'," Hiei pointed out. Kagome just stared at him in mild shock. "Miko, I haven't spent as much time around humans as I have without learning something about their ways." He smirked. Kagome laughed.

"You do have a sense of humor."

"If you wish to continue living, do not –ever- make that comment again." Despite her power, Hiei could see the bow and arrow wobble. She was exhausted. He gave her a bit a credit for hiding it from them, though. She really couldn't continue. He sighed internally. He would have to let her rest before taking her back to the Ningenkai. At least the kidnapping explained how she got so far away from the border.

Hiei decided it would be safer to let her sleep here rather than to take her back to the castle. He sent the men back and said he would stay and show her to the border. As soon as the others left, she dropped the bow and arrow and collapsed on the ground. He looked at her.

"You are not worried I will attack you now the others are gone?" He asked.

"Oh, no, if you were going to do that, you'd have just had them all attack me, so if someone was purified you could still knock me out. Besides, you don't have an aura which feels like you are in a murderous mood."

That sounded like an insult to Hiei, who felt he was always in a murderous mood; however, he didn't say anything. "Come over here and hide under this bush. You need to sleep. I'll keep watch."

Now the immediate danger was over Kagome couldn't seem to think. She felt safe with the grumpy youkai. He had nice red eyes, too. Without any argument, she took off the blanket and laid it under the bush. She lay down, wrapped herself deeper in the blanket, curled up under the bush and went to sleep. Hiei jumped into a convenient tree and went to sleep himself. The jagan stayed awake and he knew it would wake him at the slightest approach of danger. He refused to consider how nice her legs looked when she had removed the cotton blanket.

**_-- --- 0 -- ---_**

_**6 Months Later**_

Kagome and Hiei went down to the beach on Genkai's property. Kagome carried the blanket and Hiei had a picnic basket. The moon shone brightly in the sky and reflected off the waves coming up the beach. It gave a glow to the entire night.

"Come on, Hiei. This is a great idea. Haven't you ever had a midnight snack in the moonlight before?"

"Yes I have eaten by moonlight, but not from a basket." He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. Kagome eyed him back a little uncertainly. There were two things he could be referring to and Kagome didn't know which one he meant. Knowing him, he was probably referring to catching some creature for his dinner. He laughed at her but said nothing more.

"Why did you bring this old blanket?"

"We'll need something to sit on and this blanket means a lot to me. It was there when we first met," she said.

Hiei and Kagome ate and drank a little wine. He never drank enough to get drunk, but seemed to enjoy the flavor of some human alcoholic beverages. There were a few stars not hidden by the light of the moon and Kagome pointed out some of the constellations she recognized. She looked over at Hiei and saw him watching her and not the stars. She looked away.

"Hiei?"

"Hn?"

"When you said earlier you had eaten by moonlight, but not from a basket, what did you mean?" She looked down, then back up at him. His eyes glowed dark red in the moonlight.

"I'll show you," he said with a smile.

-- --- 0 --- ---

_**Nine Months Later**_

"I HATE YOU! YOU EVIL YOUKAI! Come near me again and I'll purify your ass so fast you won't know what hit you. Arrrhhh."

"Breathe, Kagome-chan. You need to breathe," Yukina said while she kept an eye on the progress of the birth.

"Yes," said Hiei. He wanted nothing more than to avoid all this, but Yukina was counting on him to help. Before she went insane, Kagome had said she wanted him there. She said males did that these days. More importantly, Kurama happened to be here also and he knew the fox would never let him hear the end of it if he ran to the forest and left Kagome to give birth without him.

"Breathe, Kagome-chan. The baby is almost here."

"I want it over. It hurts."

"Pant, woman. The females all said you should pant."

"You pant, you son of a bitch. Arrgghh." Another contraction hit her.

"Its coming, its coming. I can see the head. It has black hair."

"Arrgh." With a final push and scream, the baby came out and Kagome fell back against Hiei and went limp. They both heard a cry as Yukina picked it up.

"Hiei, why don't you cut the umbilical cord for your daughter?" Yukina asked him.

"The what?"

"The cord, you should cut it here." Yukina indicated the spot and Hiei pulled his sword. Kagome watched with a dawning sense of dismay.

"Wait. That sword is twice the size of our baby." She begged. Hiei just looked at her.

"Do you think I have so little control, woman?" Then he took his sword and expertly cut precisely where Yukina had indicated.

"Hiei, why don't you step outside while I get Kagome-chan and the baby cleaned up," Yukina suggested. Hiei was happy to be dismissed.

Fifteen minutes later he was allowed back in to find Kagome clean and dressed in fresh clothes and lying in a completely new bed. The baby was wrapped in the old blanket and sitting in her arms. Moonlight from the full moon outside shone down on them.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" Kagome said happily. "Isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in her life?" Hiei watched his family and just nodded.

"I have a family," he said with a strange look.

Kagome looked up at him and gave him a radiant smile. "Yes, you do. I want to give her at least two brothers or sisters."

"That will be difficult if you purify me if I ever touch you again," Hiei said pointedly. Kagome just smiled at him then smiled happily at the baby.

"Two more just like her," she repeated.

"Why is she in that old pink blanket? I have gold. I am not poor. My daughter should have a new blanket," He said.

"No," Kagome said with another smile. "This is her blanket. We met with this blanket, we made her on this blanket and now we will wrap her with this blanket. There is no better blanket for her than this one."

_**-- --- 0 --- --**_

_**Five Years Later**_

"MINE! You can't have it." The dark haired little girl clutched an old pink blanket. It was tattered at the edges and had a few holes in it.

"Kimiko. It is time to give up that blanket." Hiei tried to pull it out of his daughter's hands but she clung to it. "You are training now. You are practicing with sword and fire youki. Do you want to burn the blanket up?"

"No," she said uncertainly.

"Your brother is 2 and a half and he is starting to practice. Do you want your brother to learn faster than you? You are the older sister." Hiei had learned a trick or two in five years of being a father.

"No!" She said adamantly.

"Then give up the blanket. You will have a wooden sword to keep by your side. It will take better care of you than the blanket." He held out the wooden sword to show her but didn't put it in her hand. She reached for it, but he didn't give it to her. "Youkai do not carry blankets," Hiei said firmly.

Kagome had been watching but she didn't interfere. Then she went to her daughter. "Kimiko, if you give me the blanket I will make something for you and then give it back to you. How's that?"

"I'll get it back?" She asked uncertainly

"I promise. It won't look exactly as it does now, but it will be _your_ pink blanket."

"O.K." Kimiko trusted her mama implicitly. She gave her the blanket.

-- --- 0 --- --

_**Three Months Later**_

The entire family attended the Bon-Odori festival. Kagome, Kimiko and her little brother all wore traditional yukata tied with obi. Hiei wore his black pants, boots and a sleeveless shirt. Kagome had learned not to try to change his clothes. Kimiko saw a friend and ran off to show her the new blue cotton yukata and pink obi she got from her mother. They had been at the festival for some time. The sun was going down and the moon was rising. Kimiko ran back to her mother and father and then saw Keiko approaching with her little boy.

"Hello, Keiko-san."

"Why, hello Kimiko. Don't you look beautiful today in that blue and pink?" She looked closer at the obi. "Kimiko, what a lovely sakiori obi. It looks new. I didn't think anyone made them anymore."

"This is my blanket," Kimiko said proudly. Then she ran off to play a game with some of the other children at the festival.

"Her blanket?" Keiko asked uncertainly as she looked at Kagome and Hiei. Kagome laughed and Hiei just rolled his eyes.

"Yes. That blanket has been a part of Hiei's and my life since the day we met. I was kidnapped in it; we made Kimiko on it; I wrapped Kimiko in it when she was just born, and it was a friend to Kimiko for the first five years of her life. I couldn't just let it go for rags, and Kimiko didn't want to give it up anyway. I read up on how to do sakiori weaving. I actually took it to someone who still knew the art of sakiori to cut it into the very thin strips of cloth, but I did the weaving myself. For hundreds of years cloth was so precious that our ancestors cut up old kimonos and any bit of cloth to create a new garment. We don't need to do that nowadays, but that doesn't mean we can't do it to remake a treasured object. It's had a good long life with our family."

"Hn. Sentimental nonsense," Hiei said, but Keiko noticed the softness in his eyes when he watched Kagome.

"That's right, and proud of it," Kagome replied as she kissed him in the moonlight in the middle of the crowds of people.

--

-


End file.
